Rebirth of the Shadow Games: The Night Before
by cypsiman2
Summary: It has been six months since the Ceremonial Battle, and six lives will be tested by the shadows once more. This is the night before the new adventure begins. Pairing and continuity information inside.


I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.

Pairing and Continuity information: There will be Yuugi/Anzu, some Jounouchi/Mai, and references to Bakura/Amane (Very Dark). Also, the continuity is based on the Manga, with the occasional nod to the Anime. Most significantly, this means that the Doma arc never happened. Thank you for your time, and please enjoy the fanfic.

* * *

Rebirth of the Shadow Games: The Night Before

Yuugi

Six Months. It's been six months since the Ceremonial Battle, and I'm still going over what he told me. He told me that I was the strong one; that my kindness was a power that no one could beat, and then he said that I was no one but myself, that I was the only Yuugi Mutou in the world. I've tried to live up to his expectations, I've tried to honor his memory, but it's just so hard. I wake up in the middle of the night, and I remember that he's gone, that the puzzle is gone, and that I'm alone in my thoughts again. Then I smack myself. I have friends, true friends. I've proven that I'm the one who made my wish on the puzzle come true. There's only ever been one Jounouchi, one Anzu, and one Honda. They don't ever find themselves crying into their pillows just because they don't have someone to talk to at three in the morning.

Still, I keep worrying that I'm never going to stop wanting him back. I worry that one day I'll slip up and call him "the other me" and not "Atem". He believed in me, I can still remember the look I saw in his eyes. It was the same way I looked at him, so much admiration, so proud of him, wishing that I could be like that; only it was he who was looking at me like that. I can't ever afford to betray that trust he had in me. It would be like declaring that the ceremonial battle was a lie, that I wasn't ready to let him go to where he had to go. I was, even though it hurt so much, even though I cried so much, I had to do it.

It would have been wrong to keep him with me, for the both of us. I understand that now. He remembered who he was, and though he didn't want to leave us, his friends and family from his old life had been waiting for him for three thousand years, and he knew it. If he had stayed, he would always be missing them, and I would be like the mill-stone around his neck that kept him away. He could never have been really happy if I'd held him back from where he belonged, no matter how much he cared for me. At the same time, I couldn't be happy either, because he would have had to keep living through me. I was always okay with sharing my life with him, with sharing my friends with him, but Anzu…

I've always wanted the best for her. I used to dream of being able to be the best for her. She was always so strong and kind, she deserved someone who could always be there for her, the way she was for me. Then he showed up, and he saved her. Even though I wished that she could have felt that way towards me, I was happy for her, that she was able to find someone who was good enough for her. Except, on that first night in Duelist Kingdom, when I offered to let her talk with him, she stopped me, and told me that I was just fine, the way I was. I felt emboldened by that, and the next night, I told her I wouldn't lose to him.

It wasn't long after that that the puzzle was broken at the Black Crown game store, because I'd been careless. I had to put it back together, to apologize to him, and it was up to Jounouchi to save me from the fire. I realized that I couldn't be what she wanted, what she deserved, what she needed. So even though he encouraged me to pursue her, I stood aside, silently letting her know that I wouldn't get in the way. Throughout everything that happened in Battle City and the Memory world, I could see how much she wanted to be with him, how she longed to be with him, except that no matter how much I tried, I was still in the way. She was always worried that she would hurt my feelings

And then I won the Ceremonial Battle, and he was gone. I want her so much, but I don't deserve her, not after that. She was so sad afterwards, and I knew full well that it was my fault. It took us weeks to just be able to talk again, and a few months more just to feel comfortable around each other again. I couldn't dare jeopardize our friendship now. In time, she'd find someone, I was sure of that. She was beautiful, strong, devoted to her dreams and to her friends. She was bound to find someone, and when she does, I can be happy for her, and this time, I won't get rid of him.

He said my kindness was my strength, that it was the greatest power in the world. I want to believe him, I want to be able to be with Anzu, and not feel guilty, not feel like a consolation prize. She deserves only the best, and I wish I could be that. I want to be able to wake up in the morning without going through all this, over and over again. Most of all, I want to be me, and be able to be proud of that.

Speaking of morning, it was time to get up. I wipe the sleep from my eyes and take a quick shower. As I get dressed, I subconsciously reach for the chain that held the Millennium Puzzle, but I don't dwell on it. I have breakfast with grandpa. He was so proud that I was able to defeat the Pharaoh that he still asks me to recount it, even though he was there and saw the whole thing. I tell him though, and each time the story gets a little easier to tell, so I begin to think that maybe grandpa isn't listening to the story, but to me. I finish the story, as always with me walking towards the sun with my head held up high.

"To think, that my Grandson would have fought in such a fierce battle and won! I feel sorry for anyone who would try to get in your way now, Yuugi." It's not what he says every time, but it's always along those lines.

"Thanks Grandpa. I'm just glad that you still like hearing me talk about that duel." He clasped his hand on my shoulder.

"It's not the duel, Yuugi. It's the feelings behind the duel, the feelings that you invested in each move, and the message you delivered through that battle. That's what matters." I nod.

"Thanks Grandpa. I think I'm really beginning to understand it, in here." I gesture to my heart. "I just need some more time, to really process it." He smiles at me.

"Of course Yuugi. Now get a move on, you don't want to be late for school." I nod, finish off my toast, get my stuff together, and head on out, once more towards the sun.

* * *

Anzu

I woke up in a cold sweat. That's how I knew that I had that dream again. My head was spinning, so light, like gazing towards the sun on a hot summer's day. It takes me a while to find my feet, and a while after that to get balanced. The vertigo, like I'd been spinning way up high, fades, though I'm still a little nauseous. I make my way to my mirror, and though I know its coming, I can't stop it from happening. I see my face, and I want to punch my reflection. The feeling passes now, the symptoms of the nightmare are gone.

Thankfully the nightmare doesn't come every night, or I'd probably be a wreck. It would also help if I could ever remember the nightmare. It was probably something really lame, like one of those old horror movies where the monster seems really scary, only when it comes out into the light, it turns out it's just some guy in bad Halloween costume, and if you're lucky, you can see the zipper, and just laugh at the lameness of it all. I was sure that my sub-conscious was having a laugh at my expense, which would mean at least part of me was laughing. I shake my head, clearing my mind of thoughts of empty dreams, and focus on my morning routine. As I do, my mind wanders to the real world.

Six months. That's how long it's been since the Ceremonial Battle. Six months in which my life has actually been pretty normal. Well, not really. For nearly a month I couldn't even talk to Yuugi. Every time I looked at him, I saw Atem. I re-doubled my focus on dancing, so that I would have an excuse to avoid him. That way, I wouldn't be sitting around and moping about how _he_ was gone, like some insipid fan-girl who couldn't stand the object of her affections moving forever beyond her reach.

But one day, I was about to walk by him, and I realized that I could see him. Not the Pharaoh, not the other him, just Yuugi. I asked him to stop, and he turned to look at me. His eyes seemed more defined then before, but they were still so open, like you could fall into them if you weren't careful. I steeled myself, and told him the truth, I told him everything, and I didn't give myself a chance cower out of it like I did back when we were on the Nile.

The Nile. I remember Yuugi preparing himself for his duel with Atem. When I found out that Atem had buried himself in Yuugi's heart, I had resolved to myself that I was going to tell him that no matter what happened he would have my support. But I couldn't do it. I'd known that that day would be coming since before Battle City, and I still couldn't handle it. I ran off after making some excuse about looking for medicine. Then I made an idiot out of myself, begging Atem to stay anyway. At least I didn't chase after him; that would have been horrible.

Getting back to where I was before, I explained to Yuugi why I'd been avoiding him, and then he tells me that he'd been doing the same thing. He said that he felt like he'd betrayed me, that he knew how I felt, and he didn't want to hurt me by reminding me of what he did. I force a smile and jab him in the shoulder, very lightly, and told him he was a man so he should act like one. He made himself laugh. It wasn't much, but we were talking again.

Over the next couple of months, we rebuilt our friendship. We ended up playing duel monsters a lot. I think I noticed how well everyone had been connecting through the game, so I decided I wanted in on it. It turned out I was actually pretty good at it, though I'm never really sure whether Yuugi's holding back on me or not. He always wins either way, so I suppose it doesn't matter. He kept telling me that I was a really good student, but I figured he was just flattering me, until Jounouchi and I dueled.

He came up to me after school and said that he wanted to have a re-match, for all those times I kicked his ass before we all left for Duelist Kingdom. I figured that it would be a humbling experience, to lose to Jounouchi, only I managed to win. I'll never forget the look on his face when I won. "How the hell did you do that, Anzu?" I smiled.

"I guess Yuugi was right."

"What do you mean Yuugi was right?"

"He said that I was a really good student, but I was sure he was just being nice." Jounouchi just looks at me.

"He's been teaching you. It figures." He walks away, muttering.

When I told Yuugi about it, he seemed happy, really happy. We'd been pretending around each other for awhile, but this time when we smiled, I didn't feel any reservations. Right then, I knew that things were back to the way they should be between us. It felt like none of the stupid things I had done to our friendship had ever happened. It was an effect that Yuugi had on people, to make them feel better about themselves, drawing out there better qualities just by being with them. It felt like a lesson I'd learned many times before, but I knew that this time I wouldn't forget it. I promised myself that I wouldn't.

I decided that I was going to hold off on love for now. I know he still feels what he always has for me, and there's still that part of me that reciprocates his feelings, but the fact of the matter was that I managed to screw everything up, so until I could figure out a way to make things right, I was going to focus on just being his friend. Given time, I might be able to be mature enough to handle love without turning into an idiot.

One thing that really tested that last part was the sheer volume of fangirls that seemed to have cropped up ever since the end of Battle City. As much I wanted to, I couldn't just smack them all away. Even when they got really close to Yuugi, I kept my glaring to a minimum. After all, one of them could be an intelligent, friendly girl who might actually understand Yuugi's real strength, who would see how kind he was and understand how precious that was. The odds were pretty low, but I came around, even if it was too little, too late. I walked out the door, towards the sun, hoping that today, Yuugi would have what he deserved. He always deserved the best, even if he didn't always believe it.

* * *

Jounouchi

Two in the morning is a lousy time to have to go to the corner store and get ice for your lousy drunk of a father, but that's where and when I was. My father actually managed to make some money gambling today, a solid three-hundred thousand yen. Fortunately, I'd managed to catch up to him before he had a chance to blow it all, and since he hadn't had a chance to get drunk yet, he was still open to reason. Of course he insisted on keeping two thirds of it as free cash for him to use, but the rest went to paying off his debts. That left about eight-hundred thousand left to pay off, but it was better then nothing.

Of course, it would be like Kaiba to not have a third tier prize at his tournament. After all, with that money, my father's debt could be paid off, and he could stop having to drink his troubles away. Then again, the cold ice I'm holding onto says differently. The old man was always a drunk, and when drunk, violent. Despite that, even though that was why Mom took my sister to the country, I can't bring myself to hate him. I think it was because of how close I came to turning into him, of being a stupid thug who ruined everything he touched. I try to imagine what I would be if I'd never met Yuugi, and it scares me worse then anything in my life, and I've run into some damn scary shit.

Yuugi… He really changed my life, turned it all the way around, just by being kind, by not allowing that thug Ushio to attack us in his name. I didn't just find a friend though, I found direction in my life. Thanks to him and the other Yuugi, I was able to become a "True Duelist". It was a special combination of honor, pride, and the ability to accept yourself, that's what I decided it meant. My proof of course, was the Red-Eyes Black Dragon that I won back from him. At that point, it really stopped being "just a card" to me, and now I really understand what the other Yuugi means when he talked about "the heart of the cards".

These days though, I make sure not to refer to him as "the other Yuugi", not when Yuugi and Anzu are in earshot. I guess I can understand why they both want to remember him as Atem. That whole messed up business of a love triangle with where the two guys are one guy who it turns out really is two different guys was definitely something the two of them could have done without. I didn't realize just how messed up the whole situation was until after the other Yuugi was gone. For weeks they just avoided each other, and as much as I wanted to help Yuugi, I wasn't much better in the whole love department.

I still get e-mails from Mai. Last I heard from her, she was in China, spending up a storm from her latest prize winnings. It took a special sort of women in order to live Mai Kujaku's life, and she always lived it to the fullest. When I first met her, I just figured her for an obnoxious bitch, a total cock-tease. Then she damn near hands my ass to me in my first tournament duel. It wasn't until after Battle-City was over that I began to grasp just how strong she was.

Consider: A total psychopath with magic powers traps you in a hellish prison that will kill you painfully in twenty-four hours, unless someone can defeat him. I tried to defeat him, and I ended up in a coma, though thankfully he didn't throw any penalty games on top of the pain he already tossed my way. Once Yuugi defeated him, I rushed down to the infirmary. At first it looks like we were too late, but it turns out she was just playing dead, to see how I'd react. She took a horrific near death experience, and used it to freaking tease me. I was kind of worried afterwards that maybe she was hiding how badly traumatized she was, but as it turns out, she's been doing great.

Also, she put me in a headlock. I'll never forget that part, especially since she wasn't even all that focused on me, she was too busy congratulating Yuugi on winning Battle City. Point of all this is, is that while she's undeniably sexy, that's not why I want to be with her, because if it were just about the sexiness, I wouldn't bother with someone who's never in the same country. I wouldn't bother talking to her about my sister and my friends, trying to make her feel like part of the whole extended family that we've got going around here.

I'm back home now, I refill the ice-pack, and hand it to my father. He may have been a lousy old man, but he was my old man. I looked at him, and for some reason he didn't even seem scary to me anymore. He was just a pathetic sad excuse for a man, and even if he were drunk and not hung-over, he couldn't touch me. I wonder if that too was part of being a "True Duelist", not being scared of your deadbeat dad?

Enough about him, focus on more positive things. For example, your duel with Anzu. I was so damn cocky. I mean, I even managed to beat the other Yuugi one time, so Anzu should have been a piece of cake. Maybe, if that cake were heavily armed and had the experience and instincts of a knight, perhaps. It was pretty close, but in the end she beat me. I stammered, demanding to know how she'd gotten so good, and she mentioned, almost off-handedly, that Yuugi had been teaching her. It figures he would do that. Still, it was good to hear, since that meant that things were working out that much better between them. Hell, now that I was paying attention again, they had been acting like they were back before the other Yuugi came into the picture. I tried to talk to Yuugi afterwards, asking him when he planned on making his move, and you know what he tells me? "I don't deserve her like that. I'm just fine being friends with her." He freaking floors me with that.

"What are you talking about? Didn't you hear what the o… er, I mean Atem said? 'Your kindness is the greatest strength in the world' or something like that. I don't see how you don't deserve a chance with her." He doesn't skip a beat, like he was prepared for my efforts.

"I messed things up okay? I tried to be fair to her, but I sent him away. Do you have any idea how much I hurt her when I did that? We're okay now, really." And then Anzu shows up, and they start talking about the old days, the days before even I came into the picture. They tell jokes I don't understand, make references I don't get. I guess I should be happy about that, that they seem happy enough, but if Yuugi and Anzu can't make it work out between them, then what chance do I have with Mai? Still, there's always tomorrow, and once I get up from my… five hours of sleep, I'll seize the day. That, in the end, is what being a "True Duelist" is all about. That's what I think, anyway.

* * *

Mai

Roulette. What kind of man goes around calling himself that? I swear the number of times I've had to explain to people that no, that's not a real American name, it's just unreal. Why do I bring this up? Because I think I've managed to track him down. Oddly enough, he seems to be in Domino City, where Jounouchi is. I wonder if he'd be willing to put up with me acting like I have an interest in "Roulette", or if that would be the straw that broke the camel's back? I would have figured pretending to be dead just to get a rise from him would have pissed him off royal, but aside from some initial blustering, he seemed really happy that I was okay. Hell, I found it adorable how he kept telling me in his e-mails that I could tell him if something was wrong. I had to assure him that I was just fine, really, and I really did mean it.

In the past, I would have insisted that I was just fine, even when I wasn't, to the point where even I didn't know when something was wrong with me. I didn't want to admit weakness, because I couldn't afford it. I lived in a world of high-stakes gambling, and I had to win every time, because if I didn't, there was no one to help me. So of course, when I lost to Jounouchi, I was in shock. I kept trying to make excuses, finding ways to keep the blame for my defeat off of me, but once Yuugi defeated the Player Killer of Darkness, and once Jounouchi convinced me to take my star chips back, I'd gotten to thinking; maybe losing wasn't so bad after all.

Of course, the idiot had to go and brag about how he won his duel with Rishid because of his friends, and when I ask, he says I wasn't in his dream. Yeah, that left me pretty pissed off. It was petty and juvenile, but that was how I felt. I made sure that he knew that if he didn't need me, then I didn't need him. Except it turns out that Malik wasn't an ordinary duelist, and he turned our duel into a shadow game, where we felt the pain our monsters felt. If it hadn't been for them, I would have fallen to the illusions right away.

Then I find out that Ra cheats, that you have to be able to read hieratic text in order to be able to use it. Things got really bad after that, but when he was about to have Ra attack, Jounouchi was there, and for a moment I was happy to see that he really did care. Afterwards, Malik inflicted a penalty game on me where I was going to be eaten by scorpions. It was unpleasant, to say the least, but as the end approached, I felt a light shining through my glass cage, dissolving the little monsters and breaking me free. When I looked to that light, I saw Jounouchi and all his friends, and when I woke up, it all felt like a bad dream, nothing more substantive then that. That was when I decided to play dead, and I made sure that Bakura would play along, so as not to spoil anything.

After Battle City, I decided that I had had enough of humbling experiences for awhile. Sure, they were good for me, but I wanted to reach the top a couple of times. I moved to China and began building up my rank there. I remember running into a woman named Vivian Wong, who expressed a strong desire to make Yuugi into her love slave. I imagined Anzu's reaction to that little declaration, and laughed really hard. Too hard for Vivian's taste, but she quieted down once I beat her.

And there I was, about to duel the final of the Chinese nationals, when it turns out that my opponent was nowhere to be found. Eventually the judges had to declare a forfeit, which meant that I won by default. I was not happy about that, and swore that I would track him down defeat him, to remove the taint from my victory. I traveled all over the country looking for him, and as I did, I began to hear some unsavory rumors about him. Specifically, the people he dueled had a strong tendency to end up in comas. Not every time, obviously, but frequently enough to make me think of what happened at Battle City.

It was the last man that I'd spoken to, the last man to have dueled with him, who gave me the information I needed. He seemed to be in a state of panic when he saw me, and he kept asking me if I was at all connected to Roulette, if I was leading Roulette to him, that sort of thing. By the time he calmed down, he began to talk.

"It was really freaky. He had this really rare card, I'd never even heard of it before, and he said that if I could beat him, then he would let me have it. I said sure thing, but a soon as we start, everything felt so cold and heavy, like I was sinking into the ocean. As I kept losing life points, everything kept getting darker. He called it a shadow game, and when I lost, he was going to take my soul. It sounds ridiculous, I know, but he was dead serious, and I believed him." I did a quick read on him, and decided that he wasn't trying to play me.

"All right then, how did you walk away from that one?" He wiped the sweat from his brow; the memory of it was that scary.

"I came really close to losing, so I played a combo of Wall of Revealing life, Gift Card, and Self-Destruction Button to reduce both our life points to zero at the same time. Then he sneered at me and said that my soul was too weak for his purposes, and then he gets a call on his cell phone. All I can remember from that call was that he mentioned something about Domino City. I noticed that because that's where the Battle City tournament was held. Once he was done with the call, he glared at me, practically daring me to try and warn someone. I didn't want to risk that again, so I ran."

So Roulette was going to be playing shadow games with Jounouchi and the others. Fine, that just gives me another reason to kick his ass, and this time I have a much better idea of where to look for him. Domino City isn't that big, and now I have an excuse to drop by and see the gang again.

Right now I'm coming in over the pacific, and in the distance I think I can make out Japan. Unfortunately it'll be midnight when I get there, so I'll have to find some cheap motel to stay at before I can get started. I think I'll just show up at Yuugi's place, unannounced. I recall Jounouchi mentioning hanging out there a lot, so the odds on me running into everyone are pretty good.

As I wake up from my nap to get off the plane, the thought occurs to me he wanted me to follow him, he wanted to duel me where no one would see. Fine, he'll just learn the hard way that I've got too much riding on this to lose. I'll beat him and get the truth from him.

* * *

Seto

Things have been very boring since Yuugi defeated his other self back in Egypt. Although I had intended to witness the duel myself, there were last minute arrangements at Kaiba Corp that had to be taken care of, so when I did get there, everything was already over. That much was obvious from the fact that Yuugi no longer had the Millennium Puzzle around his neck. I questioned him, demanding to know every move that had been made, the cards that had been in their hands every turn, and which cards they had chosen for their decks. There was a strange quality to Yuugi's voice as he spoke. He was happy and sad at the same time, a strange feeling to see in the one who'd just defeated the greatest duelist in the world, so while I had initially planned to duel him immediately, I postponed it. There was no sense in facing against a rival who wouldn't put his whole heart into the battle, and until the fool decided that he would be happy with his victory, that wasn't going to happen.

Mokuba was eager to stay and talk with everyone, and since my original plans were now untenable, I had no cause to oppose his decision. I'm not sure when it happened, but I ended up speaking with Isis. Out of everyone I'd met since dueling Yuugi, she was the most tolerable of all, even if she did have a fixation on the past. Most of all, it was the matter of how we were so similar, yet so different; the way that her father had practically ignored her in favor of preparing Malik to serve his role for the tomb-keeper clan seemed a strange reflection of how Gozaburo had overlooked Mokuba in order to push me into becoming heir to his legacy of hate, especially the manner in which both our fathers died. More and more, it seemed like Isis was someone I could consider an equal, unlike the other Yuugi who was simply my rival.

Not to say that I didn't value the presence of a rival, but outside the dueling field, there wasn't much cause for the two of us to interact. I asked Isis about Yuugi, why he wasn't embracing his victory over the other Yuugi. "You mean Atem?" and there's that fixation on the past.

"As far as I'm concerned, he's the other Yuugi. Whoever or whatever he was three thousand years ago doesn't matter to me. I know that if I were to have won that I would have been very pleased, so why does Yuugi feel differently?" Isis closed her eyes in contemplation.

"It was very clear that at the end of the duel that Yuugi and all his friends had formed powerful bonds to Atem. Yuugi and Anzu both seemed to be especially close to him, and were particularly reluctant to let him go. Can you imagine if you were forced to send Mokuba away?" I told her I'd consider it from that point of view, and informed Yuugi that while he was my new rival, I would wait for him to be ready, so that we could have a worthy duel. He agreed to that, with a smile on his face, and he put his hand out to shake mine. I took it, reminding myself that this Yuugi was always far more polite then the other Yuugi. With my business concluded I returned to Domino City, to oversee Kaiba Corporation.

In the past six months, business has been doing very well, and Mokuba has been interacting with his peers more often lately. In particular, while we were in America we met with the new American champion, a girl named Rebecca Hopkins. According to her, her grandfather and Yuugi's grandfather were old friends, and as soon as she finished up college, which she made sure we knew would be at the end of the semester, she was going to introduce herself to him. Something about that seemed amusing to me, but that quickly passed. In any event, I'm glad that Mokuba is beginning to be more independent from me.

As it turns out, it's just as well that Yuugi hasn't been in any condition to duel me lately, since this has given me time to pursue new investigations in the dueling world. In particular, while the Ghouls have long since dissolved, it seems a new group has emerged in their stead. This group seems to be much smaller and more widespread then the Ghouls, with only half a dozen members around the world. They seem to specialize in back-alley duels occurring at the time of sanctioned tournaments, probably to keep the lesser authorities from noticing anything odd.

On a few occasions I've managed to use my satellites to track these duels in action, and what I've seen intrigues me. The opponents more often then not are left screaming in terror when they lose, and they become comatose within hours of the duel's conclusion. These events remind me of the shadow games that Yuugi introduced me to, except for two problems.

First of all, the penalty of a shadow game is inflicted almost immediately, yet with these games, there is a considerable delay. More importantly, initiating a shadow game requires a Millennium Item and those were all lost after the Ceremonial Battle. The notion that someone is attempting to re-introduce the occult to the dueling world does not sit well with me. The past is dead and buried, and I do not approve of tomb-robbing.

I'm dividing my time now between my surface work of managing the company, ensuring that the Kaiba Lands that I've built do not become corrupted by the local management, and my 'shadow' work of observing these corrupt duelists. In reviewing the records, I notice that there appears to be a pattern to their movements. I've sent my agents to observe the projected locations and the likely targets of their depredations, and I'm forced to the conclusion that these people are going to gather here, in Domino City.

I like that. Before, I had to lay out my trap, my Battle City, in order to catch my enemies. Now they come to me of their own accord. Given their progressions, one of them is bound to challenge me. Unfortunately, there is no way of knowing which one will approach me, nor what sort of deck they will use to attempt, and fail, to defeat me with. Still, with any luck, Yuugi will become swept up in all this. He should become most incensed if the shadow games are indeed returning, which will bring all of his friends out of the woodwork. In short, I need only wait, and this group will smash itself against the greatest duelists in the world, and then the important matter, my duel with Yuugi, can finally begin. I look forward to this game, I really do.

* * *

Bakura

I still reach for the Millenium Ring, even though it's gone. I wonder whether Yuugi has the same problem; does he lay awake at night, wishing that the other Yuugi would come back to him? It would make sense for him, since the other Yuugi was a beneficent presence in his life, and even when he was dangerous and violent, it was always in response to real danger to his friends. The other Bakura wasn't that way at all, he was never a friend, and he always drove people away from me, so why did I want to keep him around? I remember fighting against him, when he tried to steal Yuugi's soul and the souls of all his friends. I even gave up my soul to beat him, and then the character I created had enough of me in him that he was able to bring me back to life. I still held onto the ring, because it was my father's last gift to me, but I knew that so long as I didn't wear it again, he couldn't control me.

But then we were trapped in that labyrinth beneath Pegasus's island, and the other Bakura offered to help me find the way out, saying that we would be trapped otherwise. On the one hand, I should have trusted Yuugi and the others to have figured it out without, but on the other hand, he did keep his word at the time. And when Honda got trapped in the castle, the other Bakura rescued him and Mokuba. The other Bakura even helped Yuugi against Otogi, but did either of them learn to trust the other Bakura? No. They trusted  
Seto Kaiba, who'd tried to kill them and never did anything for them, before him, before me.

That was part of it. For all that the other Bakura had his own motives, twisted though his mind was, he trusted me. He counted on me to help him, unreservedly, and he did look out for me, after a fashion, but even that wasn't ultimately why I couldn't get rid of him. I didn't even understand; never even spoke it out loud, until he mentioned _her_.

It was after just after Battle City had come to an end, when he confronted me. "Esteemed host, I have something I need you to do, now that the Pharaoh is on the cusp of recovering his memories." I blanch at this. The last time he needed me, I ended up with another mind in me, and my arm was badly cut.

"Are you going to make me hurt Yuugi and his friends?" He appears before me, and shrugs.

"If they get in the way, then that's what will happen. So long as they don't get involved, only the Pharaoh will die. Does that satisfy you, esteemed host?" I can see the bloodlust in his eyes. He says that he won't hurt Yuugi if he doesn't get in the way, but that's a lie. Even if he didn't attack Yuugi directly, if the other Bakura killed the other Yuugi, Yuugi would be in incredible pain.

"No, that's not good enough. I won't let you kill the other Yuugi." He sighs.

"Well, I can't take that off the table, but I can sweeten the deal. Consider this; if my plan works, I will gain the ultimate power of darkness. With that power, opening the door to the afterlife would be trivial. Think about it." He whispers the last part, and then he looks past me, to my desk, where I had just finished writing my latest letter to my sister.

"Please, don't lie to me. You can't do that, no one can." He laughs.

"Oh come now, you know that you don't believe that. You keep writing to her, even though you know that she's dead. Don't you wish you could see Amane again? Don't you wish that you could hold her again?" His grin is predatory, he knows he's won. As I work on the playing field for his Dark RPG, I can't stop thinking about her. I remember what I saw of Jounouchi and his sister, of Seto and his brother, of the Ishtars, and I remember how things used to be with me and Amane. Though we both drew people to us, we didn't need them. We had each other, and we lived in the worlds that we created for ourselves, and we were happy. Sometimes we invited our friends to round out the cast, but we were always the main characters.

But somewhere along the way, something went horribly wrong. I began to notice things about her, the little things. The sort of things that Yuugi and Anzu noticed about each other, that's what I was seeing in my sister. I tried to pull away, tried to convince myself that I was really thinking of one of the other girls at school, but I couldn't fool myself. The way her hair framed her face, the way she matched her clothes to her eyes, the way that she would always be there for me, I took it all in me, still feeling hungry for more. She knew me too well, she saw the changes in me, and she became scared. We were terrified; we thought that we must have been star-crossed lovers in our past lives, and that died together. I couldn't imagine things getting worse for us.

Then she died, along with my mom in a car accident. I tried to keep myself composed for the funeral, but no matter what, I couldn't stop missing her as more then a sister. I was so nauseous, I had to run, and I had to get away from everyone. That was when my father gave me the ring. That was when I started moving from town to town. That was when I started writing the letters, hoping that at least on paper, I could act like the brother I was supposed to be.

It was all moot though. Yuugi and his friends won. They took the ring, and once Atem stepped through that doorway, it closed forever, and the ring, along with the other Millennium Items, was buried deep in the earth.

So here I am. Six months later, and I still can't write this letter. I want to apologize for what I did, for why I did it, but I can't make the words come out right. So long as the other Bakura was with me, I could still hope that I could reach her, but he's gone. I want to make things right again, but I can't. Everyday I get up, I smile, and I hang out with Yuugi and his friends. They trust me, because they know that the other Bakura can't reach me anymore, but if they ever found out about this, I don't know what would happen. I'm so scared. Amane, please, tell me; what do I say to you? How do I get these words to reach you where you are? I fall asleep, and I still hear nothing from you, still no words of solace. I wake up, and so begins yet another day.


End file.
